Fitness class TrapAerobics plays music that channels 'the spirit of the underdog'

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The myth that black women simply don’t work out because we are afraid of messing up our hair is tired and old — just saying. It certainly doesn’t reflect my opinion — or that of most women I know — when it comes to staying healthy both physically and mentally. Don’t believe? Well, allow me to introduce you to TrapAerobics.

In this weekly group class, women of all shapes, sizes, and colors come to learn high-energy stretching and strengthening exercises over a pulsating trap music playlist. Just imagine doing squats and arm raises to the sounds of Migos, 2Chainz, and ASAP Ferg — it’s lit!

Launched in June 2016 by Chavonne Hodges, a co-instructor and the owner of fitness company Grillz and Granola, TrapAerobics was a solution to healing anxiety. “As a young black woman, my personal struggles have always centered around acceptance from other people,” she says. “Creating this class has taught me a lot about the value of believing in myself and being myself.”

According to co-instructor and community health educator Fiona Harvey, “There is no one size fits all when it comes to exercising.” She adds, “Some may say I do not look like your typical fitness instructor, but there is more than meets the eye. There is the outer layer that has lean muscles, flat stomachs, and lifts heavy. But, what is your blood pressure? What is your blood glucose levels? How’s your cholesterol? Exercising is for everyone, and focusing on health, not an image, is what matters.”